What's the obsession with "dips" for every shab

amother

↑ Chocolate ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 1:37 am

amother OP wrote:

c'mon, I made very clear above--theme meaning a type of cuisine. plenty of people have ethnic cuisines for shabbat. nobody thought a themed shabbat means a star wars or harry potter shabbat.

Come on no one thinks anyone is obsessed with dips. Themed shabbos meals sounds more like keeping up with the rosen’s than having dips that are delicious.

amother

Raspberry

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 1:47 am

Dips is an american short cut to what started as a sephardic shabbos table, and turned into an israeli one.

Basically most sephardim make a lot of salatim and its yum - so Israeli's adopted!
Its also not super unhealthy, most of them do not need to be eaten with bread - for example this week I made: Beet salad, carrot salad, kolrabi, olives in tomato sauce( bought), shumar, pickled cauliflower ( bought), roasted peppers, israeli salad, eggplant in tehina, eggplant in tomatoe sauce, lettuce salad, israeli salad, roasted garlic, pesto. Notice that only a few need challah to eat, and we try

We have long meals with lots of shmuzing, singing, and divrei torah. Then we do a fish course or a soup course ( both is to much) and by the time we get to the main its very basic, just a protien ( beshefa- meat or chicken) a veggie, and a starch. Dessert is very simple because we are all full by that time - so its just fruit and pizuchim

From being hosted and and looking at menu's and magazines - I think the traditional ashkenzai seuda without dips tends to patchka in the kugel/ side dishes with the main. I prefer this - but my grandmother is sephardic (algerian) so this has always been how I was brought up, I may feel different if it was a new adaptation.....

amother

NeonGreen

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:02 am

amother OP wrote:

Didn't think of it this way, but it makes perfect sense -- that the "dips" thing may be an Israeli influence that creeped into the American / Ashkenazi shabbos table. which kind of supports my hunch that the "dips" thing here is a lot of peer pressure to keep up with the trends.

I am a BT and didn’t do teshuva in an authentic Israeli environment.
Depending on occasion, I have different styles of distributing foods through the meal.
What is natural to me is to have a large fish course with fish and multiple salads (and maybe one of them is a dip) and condiments. Then there is a smaller meat course and an desert. So it’s kind of a pyramid.

When I host mostly grownups or family style doesn’t work, I serve like a gala style: plated first course, elegant and small, plated meat course (a plates soup in between maybe) and plated dessert. That’s for sheva brochos or a bris.

Rarely I will do a plated first course (a challah rolls with a couple of dips or veggie slices) snd the rest buffet or family style.

But I have to remember that when I am a guest and people serve three dips with challah for the first course, not to be disappointed how little food is available because they will bring out a ton of food for the rest of the meal.
Because for me, an automatic expectation is still that there is a lot served right away.

LovesHashem ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:14 am

We love dips and salatim. Our dips are used throughout the week as well.

We love roasted garlic, pesto, quacemole, Tchina, and similar dips that can be used throughout the week in dinners. We don't make any mayo based dips usually unless we are having guests I'll add a mayo based dip.

Nothing really goes to waste here. The rest of what I make is salatim and any leftovers me and dh or the kids will pack in our lunches to eat with sandwiches throughout the week.

amother

Hosta

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:28 am

If you are gluten free and can't eat challah you're stuck when everyone else is eating dips. I prefer the Israeli style dips that can be eaten without challah. Filling up on white challah and mayo before eating a main seems silly to me, but each to their own.

rainbow dash ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:30 am

amother OP wrote:

c'mon, I made very clear above--theme meaning a type of cuisine. plenty of people have ethnic cuisines for shabbat. nobody thought a themed shabbat means a star wars or harry potter shabbat.

Did someone say Harry Potter???? Now that I can get behind.

Only since I got married did I use Dips. I make every week Tomato dip. Sometimes we get Dips from my husband's friend that makes them. I also Sometimes make babaganosh. We eat it with the fish and of course with Mayonnaise. No salad, that's for the main.

↑ rainbow dash

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 2:37 am

DrMom wrote:

No idea what tomato dip is. Some sort of sun-dried tomato-based pesto? We're not into these things so much. Maybe some humous, but that's about it. We find good warm challah is tasty on its own.

Like OP, I don't find it weird that people serve these things on occasion, but I find it weird that people consider them a must-have.

I make mine with 2 tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano then blend it together.

Also I don't eat challah (celiac) so I eat my Dips together with my fish. Surprised

shocking, I know.

amother

Gray

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:03 am

amother Chocolate wrote:

Come on no one thinks anyone is obsessed with dips. Themed shabbos meals sounds more like keeping up with the rosen’s than having dips that are delicious.

Yeah the whole premise of this thread is weird and maybe even a little "off putting".

Eating Dips/incorporating them into a shabbas meal doesn't mean anyone is "obsessed". It means we enjoy it.... Same way we enjoy soup with Kneidels...

Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:09 am

giftedmom wrote:

Yeah I think we grew up with dips only because part of my family is Israeli. But nothing fancy. It was techina and charif. My grandmother made them herself. As a teen I came across dill dip while staying by a “modern” cousin and I loved it. Now we have dill dip every shabbos.

What is dill dip?

↑ Elfrida

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:37 am

I suppose one could argue that dips are entirely against Jewish traditions. After all,on Leil haSeder we all say

,שבכל הלילות אין אני מטבילין אפילו פעם אחד הלילה הזה שתי פעמים.

On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice?

So surely this is Talmudic proof that Jews are not meant to dip their food on a regular basis, and the Rabbanim need to instantly declare that all dips must be removed from the Shabbos and Yom Tov table, and reserved exclusively for Leil haSeder?

Can't Believe It

Golde

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:46 am

OP, you're right that some of us spend a lot of time making the dips. But it's so worth it for us! My whole family loves them. From the toddler to my DH. And the grandparents when they visit. We LOVE having leftover dips after Shabbos to use for sandwiches and the like.
Actually when we don't have guests for Shabbos, our meals are sometimes just challah, dips and soup, and everyone is happy as those are our favourite courses. If that doesn't work for you or if you're not a fan, don't make them! But you certainly don't have to feel sorry for me.

Also I want to point out regarding your OP that both Italian and Asian cuisines include delicious dips 😉

amother

Watermelon

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:53 am

Our first course is challa , fish and dips. Goes together and it’s delicious!!!!!!! Growing up my father worked in a popular dip factory in Brooklyn so I’m used to lots of dips. I like to have at least 5-6 dips, like chummus, roasted eggplant, olive dip, jalapeño dip, cucumber salad, carrot salad, matbucha, tahini, tomato dip, pesto.
My kids love plain Mayo so that’s a must every shabbos but I only let them eat it if they have fish too, for some healthy protein.

amother

Clover

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 3:57 am

I love dips - so do the rest of my family. I like challah with and without dips. I eat lots of dips if there are dips on the table. I only make dips if I have time though, which isn't often. No obsession, but lots of appreciation!

amother

Yellow

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 5:34 am

Friday night dips with hot sour dough is a treat we all look forward to. YUM. I make homemade humus, tehina, garlic confit, matpucha, tomatoe dip, olive dip, and sometimes roasted eggplant.
No other motive behind it other then my taste buds. Why would you think this is fueled by peer pressure any more then your cuisine specific meals?
(We also don't serve two proteins because we don't want it or need it- So it will be either fish or a meaty course. Not both. So no peer pressure there either. )

Ruchel ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 6:10 am

Agree. I NEVER saw this before some 15 years or what. Certainly not at traditional Ashkenazi homes.

My husband and until recently kids didn't touch them so sometimes I bought a couple for me lol. But frankly never felt shabbesdik for me.

Wouldn't make them myself or buy regularly

Last edited by Ruchel on Mon, Sep 23 2024, 7:36 am; edited 1 time in total

lamplighter ↓

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 6:45 am

Growing up no one had dips, when my siblings and neighbors went to Israel for yeshiva and seminary they brought home the concept. My parents still only had one or two.
My in laws did a lot of takeout and are a younger family so DH grew up with dips.
My kids don't eat dips at all I make them for DH and guests. If we are having a simple shabbos if I'm sick or something, I buy chumus and that's it. I only like one or 2 dips but I would be fine without it. when we have guests I always make at least 3. Yes it's an accepted or expected norm. My kids don't eat salad either and I make it every shabbos meal too, at least one!
I agree it's for eating challah. When I had to be gluten free for 3 months I didn't eat any. I remember a nutritionist telling me if you want to cut out calories from shabbos stop eating dips, you'll eat way less challah and no extra calories from the dips. I find this to be very true. Now that sourdough is the new challah, it's even more "necessary". I've never seen anyone eat sourdough plain.

Last edited by lamplighter on Mon, Sep 23 2024, 6:48 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Daisy

Mon, Sep 23 2024, 6:46 am

We might be the only family on earth who doesn’t serve dips (or eat them when served out) we eat our slice of challah and then onto what’s next. Who needs to eat more than one slice of challah? Such a waste when there is so much more coming